Opportunity awaits Canucks at draft
Vancouver has a chance to accelerate its rebuild with the Matthews-led class of 2016
The end of this season can’t come soon enough for the Canucks — and speaking of things you can’t wait to be over, here are the musings and meditations on the world of sports.
The payoff to this wretched Canucks’ campaign will come at this summer’s draft where the front office faces a number of fascinating scenarios with its first-round pick.
If the Canucks select in the Top 3, they’ll likely take one of the three forwards at the top of everyone’s board: Auston Matthews — their first choice — Patrik Laine or Jesse Puljujarvi. The hockey gods still owe this franchise one from its very first draft, when a spin of the wheel denied it Gilbert Perreault and left it with Dale Tallon.
Give it Matthews this time around and we’ll call it even.
But if the Canucks fall out of the Top 3, things will get interesting. They almost certainly will take a defenceman with that pick and there’s some sense in the scouting community that Olli Juolevi of the Ontario Hockey League’s London Knights has passed the Sarnia Sting’s Jakob Chychrun as the top-rated defenceman. Jake Bean of the Calgary Hitmen, moreover, isn’t far behind.
So let’s say the Canucks end up with the fifth pick. Do they reach for Juolevi? Do they go for Chychrun? Do they trade down and take Bean?
There’s no end of intrigue, but whatever they do, the Canucks better get this pick right. They have a great chance to accelerate their rebuild this summer. They might not get another like this one.
The latest issue of The Hockey News’ Futures Watch ranks the Canucks’ prospects — drafted players not in the NHL — in 11th spot, up eight from last season. In hindsight, their rating last season was too low. This season — with Thatcher Demko 32nd overall and Brock Boeser 36th — they’re slotted about right.
As to the issue of who has the best collection of young talent in the NHL — both with the big team and in the pipeline — the Canucks would probably rate just inside the Top 10. As of this writing Edmonton, Arizona and Buffalo have more high-end talent, Winnipeg is farther along in its development, Carolina has jumped up with the emergence of its young blueline, Columbus and Toronto have been stockpiling young assets and Florida still has a dazzling group of youngsters.
The Canucks have quantity. It remains to be seen if they have the quality of these other teams.
Speaking of the Canucks’ future, GM Jim Benning will travel to Tampa for the NCAA Frozen Four (Frozen Four in Tampa? Bizarre!) to watch Demko, the Boston College goalie, and Boeser, the University of North Dakota winger, and he’ll be doing some business while he’s there.
The first item will be meeting with Demko and his team to explore the possibility of turning pro. Demko is an elite goaltending prospect who’s still only 20 years old. Whether he returns to Boston next season or begins his apprenticeship in the AHL is almost a moot point. He will be a key figure in the Canucks’ rebuild.
Boeser, meanwhile, is coming off a monster freshman season, but it will be another year before the Canucks approach him about turning pro. Of immediate interest is the other winger on Boeser’s line, Drake Caggiula, who has been passed over in three drafts and now is among the top college free agents this season.
One other free-agent name to keep in mind for the Canucks is winger Brandon Tanev of Providence College, the 24-year-old younger brother of Vancouver defenceman Chris Tanev.
The greatest draft in Canucks’ history came in 1999, when they took the Sedins. Second is 1978 (Bill Derlago, Curt Fraser, Stan Smyl, Gerry Minor) and third is 2004 (Cory Schneider, Alex Edler, Mike Brown, Jannik Hansen).
In 2014, the Canucks’ first four picks were Jake Virtanen, Jared McCann, Demko and Nikita Tryamkin. Obviously, it will take some time to measure the impact, but you just wonder if we’re looking at the Canucks’ greatest draft.
Finally, just five more sleeps until opening day in Major League Baseball, which means Sportsnet will have to be hosed down a couple of times this week.
The Blue Jays likely have enough to repeat in the AL East — providing the Edwin Encarnacion-Jose Bautista drama doesn’t infect the clubhouse — but not enough to come out of the American League. Kansas City is more complete. Houston is developing into a monster. If starters Yu Darvish and Derek Holland both make it back from injuries, Texas will be there.
And there’s the Red Sox because I say so.
We’ll take the Cubs over the Royals in the World Series, although the possibility of a Fall Classic with the Cubs and Red Sox is just too fabulous.